In many ways, truck drivers are their own bosses, especially when they’re on the road. But like any boss, a truck driver is only as good as the people helping him behind the scenes. Given the vital role truck drivers play in the movement of goods around the country and the rest of the world, it only makes sense to have a solid team behind them.

Transportation companies like Best Yet Express spend a lot of time, money, and effort recruiting top notch truck drivers. But what many people don’t know is that a large portion of their budget goes to hiring and training the in-house teams that support these drivers.

What Do Support Teams Do In The Trucking Industry?

As the name suggests, support teams provide all kinds of critical support to the work done by truck drives both off and on the road. Most trucking companies have a number of positions they must fill to provide adequate support for drivers and the companies they work for. These positions are often held by:

Dispatchers

Managers

Mechanics

Sales pros

Dockworkers

Administrators and more

What Are The Roles And Responsibilities Of Support Personnel?

Support personnel help determine the best, safest and fastest routes for truckers to run, provide the destination where trucks will be serviced, manage communication with customers, handle a number of administrative responsibilities and many other things that cannot be accomplished when a trucker is on road.

Long before a truck driver is assigned freight, the details of the assignment will have gone through the desks of many support staff members, who help determine how best to carry out the job. At Best Yet Express, our support teams are tasked with the following

Our sales staff gets track of available freights

Mechanics are responsible for keeping trucks in working condition

Dispatchers assign drivers to different routes

Our support teams stay available continuously to communicate and transfer messages to various drivers

Our dockworkers are there to load and unload trucks

How Do Freight Companies Manage Their Drivers And Support Teams, All At The Same Time?

Different freight and shipping companies have different processes for managing their teams. At Best Yet Express, we developed our own comprehensive software system that lets us keep track of our drivers, wherever they may be on the road, allows us to dispatch loads to them and creates electronics records of all paperwork required for their day. We know how often drivers are on time, how hard they run, how long they stay at points, and other facts and figures to monitor their performance.

Do Support Teams Evaluate Truck Drivers?

Short answer? Yes. Dock workers, mechanics, freight planners, safety directors, logbook auditors, and other employees provide feedback on whether you’re putting in good work as a driver or slacking off. Obviously, it’s important for a freight company’s drivers to have great relations with their support staff to ensure the success of their work. Just as a good relationship with support personnel enhances the career of a truck driver, conflict with any member of the support team can negatively affect their performance. It really takes the entire team working together efficiently to move trucks forward. Fortunately, here at Best Yet Express, we have an experienced and hard working team of both drivers and support personnel making our operations run smoothly every day.

For more answers to your questions about the freight and shipping industry or to inquire more about our transportation software, don’t hesitate to contact Best Yet Express.